Choking dust and deafening noise common in many construction sites in China are seldom seen or heard in the construction site of the Longtan Hydroelectric Power Station in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The good environment is a result of huge investments in environmental protection and the efforts of environmental supervisors who monitor the work, said Lou Ping, an official with the supervision department of the State Environmental Protection Administration.

So far, 240 million yuan (US$29 million) has been invested in environmental protection during the construction of the station, the second largest hydroelectric project in the country following the Three Gorges Power Project on the Yangtze River.

Environmental supervisors are engaged in monitoring the construction site, and deal with sewage treatment, disposal of solid wastes, noise control and water and soil protection.

Besides Longtan, another 13 key projects, including the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the South-North Water Diversion projects, have introduced similar systems to prevent environmental problems.

The trial began last year and the administration is planning to spread the effort to other areas.

Lou noted that in the past, there was no supervisor to monitor environmental problems, just random checks by the environmental protection department.

(China Daily October 7, 2003)